Videos

The resurgence of measles and spread of drug-resistant germs were the focus of this Oklahoma Watch-Out public forum. Among other things, the discussion covered the controversies surrounding vaccines and hospital efforts to control contagious diseases.

Thousands of Oklahomans suffer from depression, sometimes to a debilitating degree. The problem is especially common and invisible among aging residents. Victor Guillermo, of Oklahoma City, an Air Force veteran, has struggled daily with depression since his wife died.

Months after his 18th birthday, Joshua Hoaks uses his experience in foster care to face the future. He represents the many young people in Oklahoma whose families tumbled into crisis and lost custody of their children, not to regain them before they reached 18 and aged out of the foster system.

Oklahoma’s high rate of drug addiction has taken a heavy toll on families, including grandparents and great grandparents. In Dedra Ray’s case, her granddaughter’s drug addiction left Ray to spend retirement raising her great granddaughter.

Fewer people in Oklahoma City are homeless, according to the latest counts. But more are unsheltered at night, even in the dead of winter. So Oklahoma Watch asked those on the streets, “Where do you sleep?”

Every month, hundreds of inmates who’ve served their time are released from prisons across Oklahoma. But rebuilding a life is challenging. Robin Wertz, who spent years in prison, talks about her experiences and how, as site director at Exodus House, she helps former inmates re-integrate into society. This video launches our series titled “The Invisibles.”

In Case You Missed It

A fourth of high schools across the state have eliminated world language classes over a decade, erasing the chances for thousands of students to acquire skills that could better prepare them for college and the job market.

Between 2012 and 2015, nine inmates in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary took their own lives, giving Oklahoma’s only state-owned maximum security prison the highest suicide rate among corrections facilities. Is solitary confinement to blame?